Improvement in railroad-car seats



ARNEY. Railroad Car-Seats.

Patented Jan. 7, 1873.

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ALEXANDER BAENEY, on WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILRoAn-,cAR SEA-rs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,627, datedrJ anuary 1,1873,

To all whom` it may concern:

Beit known that I, ALEXANDER BARNEY, of Wilmington, New Castle county, and State of Delaware, have invented Improvements in Railway-Car Seats, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists of certain improvements in railway-car seats, too fully explained hereafter to need preliminary description; the main objects of the said improvements being to enable the seat to be reversed and the back to be inclined at yany angle so as to form a reclining-seat when necessary.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a sectional view of a railway-car seat with my improvements; Fig. 2, also a sectional view, showing the back inclined and the cushion of the seat moved forward;` Fig. 3, a section on the line v1- 2, Fig. 2, showing the upper portion of the seat drawn out or to one side, prior to reversing the same upon the frame; and Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view. l

The lower portion of the seat consists of a fixed frame, A, supported upon legs a, and set close up to the side of the car at one end, as shown in Fig. 3. The upper portion of the seat,.consisting of the seat proper, B, arms D D, and back F, is pivoted to and arranged to revolve in a horizontal plane upon a frame, G, which is contained within the iixed frame A and adapted to and arranged to slide'upon guides b b of the latter. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) This method of connection enables the whole upper portion of the seat to be turned upon the pivotw for the purpose of reversing the l same and of thus enabling it to be faced in either direction. It is necessary, however, before the upper portion of the seat can be thus reversed, that it should be drawn outward from the side of the car or wall, in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, this motion being permitted by the sliding frame Gr, to which the said upper portion of the seat is hung, as above described. The guides b b ofthe frame A are inclined, as best observed in Fig. 3, so that when the frame G is drawn outward it shall at the same time, together with the whole upper portion of the seat, be slightly lifted, and thus,` enable the latter to be turned completely around without striking or rubbing against the fixed frame. The sliding frame Gr might in some instances be dispensed with, and the upper portion ot the seat be pivoted directly to the lixed frame A but in such case the arms and ends of the seat would have to be rounded on a curve described from the pivotingpoint, in order to enable these parts to clear the side of the car during the reversing movement.

In a seat constructed and capable of being reversed upon its base in the manner above described, the back F might be rigidly secured to the seat-frame and arms, and rounded into the same, as in a sofa, so as to form a most comfortable seat; but as it is desirable, especially for night trains, that the back should be capable of adjustment to different angles so as to form a reclining-seat, I prefer in most instances to arrange the several parts in the manner which I will now proceed to describe.

The back is hinged to the seat-frame at the point d, Fig. 2, and is supported at any desired inclination by curved rods c secured to the said back, adapted to correspondinglycurved recesses f in the arms, and notched on their under sides so that they may be hooked onto, and be thus retained by pins h projecting into the said recesses of the arms. In order that the back may be firmly sustained by the rods e the latter are rigidly secured to the same, so that if the back were simply hinged to the seat it would be difficult to disengage the notches of the said rods from the retaining-pins h. This difculty, however, is overcome byhinging the back to abar, j, which is itself hinged to the seat. This enables the back and its rods to be lifted bodily so that the notches may clear the pins and the back be adjusted to any inclination desired. (See Figs. l and 2.) j

The upholstered portion or cushion B of the seat can be lifted from the seat-frame B and be moved forward and adjusted upon the latter to a somewhat greater angle than it previously occupied, so as to form, with the inclined back, a comfortable reclining-seat, as shown in Fig. 2, and when thus adjusted the said cushion is prevented from slipping backward by a notch, 7c, on its under side, adapted to a corresponding projection, l, on the front l edge of the seat-frame.

I claim as my invention.m

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1. A car-seat, consisting of the lower sta-l tionary frame and the upper portion or seat B, supported by the frame, andadiustable lon-v gitudinally and rotating as specified.

2. The combination, with the sliding frame G, of the inclined guides b b of the fixed frame for the purpose specified. Y

' 3. The combination, substantially as described, of the adjustable hinged back F, with the pivoted reversible seat. Y

4. The combination ofthe back F, connected i to the seat by a double hinged joint, and the curved and notched rodse, secured rigidly to the said back, and adapted to pins h projecti 

